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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
National
Katie Weston

Tributes to 'true gent', 21, who plunged 600ft to death on Snowdonia mountain

Tributes have poured in for a "lovely lad" who tragically died after falling 600ft from a Snowdonia mountain ridge while hiking with two friends at the weekend.

Jack Carne, 23, was ascending Y Gribin in North Wales at 5pm on Saturday when a handhold broke, causing him to plunge down the mountainside.

Mountain rescue teams were called to the scene and had recovered his body with the help of a coastguard helicopter by Sunday afternoon.

A fundraiser has now been launched to support the family of Jack, from Yorkshire, who friends described as a "true gentleman" and the "nicest lad you'll ever meet".

Mountain rescue teams were called to the scene on Saturday (Ogwen Valley Mountain Rescue Organisation)

The GoFundMe says: "I'm raising funds as my dear friend Jack Carne sadly passed away from a tragic accident on Saturday.

"He will be missed by many. He was never not smiling, he was there for everyone whenever anyone needed him! The funds will be used to help his family who are suffering so bad at the moment due to this tragedy.

"He will be missed by everyone he ever set eyes on."

The page has raised over £6,000 of its £10,000 goal at the time of writing.

Jack's devastated girlfriend took to social media to pay an emotional tribute to him, writing: "Soulmates for ever and ever and ever."

And responding to the rescue team, Jack's grandma wrote: "A massive thank you to all involved risking your own lives to help my grandson and his friends, we are all heartbroken beyond words.

A total of 12 OVMRO rescuers were involved in the search (Ogwen Valley Mountain Rescue Organisation)
A fundraiser has now been launched to support the family of Jack, from Yorkshire (Facebook)

"You will be forever in my heart and thoughts Jack my beautiful grandson."

His aunt commented: "Thankyou to every single person involved for everything you did, putting yourselves at risk to help my nephew and others. Grateful beyond words. From a heartbroken aunt".

Another family member wrote: "No words can say how grateful we are as a family for your dedication and bravery you put into your work."

A total of 12 OVMRO rescuers searched for his body, which was found in the darkness shortly after 9pm.

Chris Lloyd, the chairman of the Ogwen Valley Mountain Rescue Organisation (OVMRO) and who was part of the rescue effort, said: "He disappeared into the cloud below, falling a good distance down some very steep and nasty ground.

"His two colleagues saw him go so they tried to scramble to the edge to see where he had gone and climbed down quite a bit. It was becoming really difficult ground and they called for him but there was no response.

Y Gribin is a grade one ridge, meaning it is one of the least difficult (Alamy Stock Photo)

"It is just a tragic accident and very, very unfortunate. The lads have not done anything wrong. This rock just came away in his hand. It is just so sad."

Cloudy conditions, regular rockfalls and widespread ice in the valley meant the rescuers could not attempt to evacuate the man's body until Sunday morning.

Mr Lloyd added: "They were three young men. They have done a lot of hillwalking together and were well-equipped and had all the right kit.

"They were actually going to go and do some wild camping which is why they were so high so late.

"It is quite a popular ridge to go up and it has a little bit of a scramble towards the top so a lot of people walk up there.

"It is not difficult at all but there is loose rock up there, there's no doubt about that. There were definitely good patches of ice. It was just thin layers of it.

"You couldn't really see it and you couldn't tell whether it was wet rock or ice and it is easy to be caught out."

OVMRO was called out 178 times last year and depends almost entirely on public donations to fund its operations.

It is one of six volunteer rescue groups in North Wales.

You can donate to the fundraiser for Jack's family here.

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